MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Bob Huggins' West Virginia Mountaineers are beginning the 2017-18 season ranked 11^th in the country in the Associated Press's preseason Top 25 college basketball poll, released earlier today.
 
It is the third time a Huggins-coached West Virginia team has been ranked by AP to begin the season, joining last year's squad that began ranked 20^th and his 2010 club that started the season ranked eighth before ending it in Indianapolis in the Final Four.
 
It will be just the 10^th time in school history West Virginia is beginning the season in the AP Top 25, and only the fourth since 1962.
 
John Beilein's next-to-last WVU team began the 2005-06 campaign ranked 14^th; George King's 1963 squad started the year ranked No. 5 and Fred Schaus had five teams listed in the preseason poll, including his 1960 squad that began the year ranked No. 2.
 
Huggins' Mountaineer teams have spent the last 36 weeks and 53 out of the last 57 in the AP poll.
 
In the coaches' poll, which came out last month, West Virginia is beginning the season ranked 10^th.
 
The Mountaineers have been in the coaches poll for 57 straight weeks dating back to 2015. Huggins' teams have now spent 80 total weeks in the national rankings, by far the most of any coach in school history.
 
West Virginia's season-opening opponent Texas A&M is ranked 25^th.
 
Other Mountaineer opponents in the Top 25 to begin the season include No. 4, Kansas, No. 5 Kentucky and No. 24 Baylor.

Single-game and season tickets are still available through the Mountaineer Ticket Office by calling toll-free 1-800-WVU GAME or by logging on to WVUGAME.com.